The Heart of Shadow and Gold

Chapter 25

Leylas POV

The whole ceremony went by in a whirl.

I was on stage, I said my swear, and then I was off the stage being congratulated by people I didn't even know.

Callie was patting my back while Blaine was screeching her lungs out in congratulations. To sum it up, I never thought I would be the center of attention like that, it felt...nice.

But that was yesterday, I get out of my bed for the first time as a guard. I look at Ashley's empty bunk, and I look at Della's empty bunk. I'm not losing anyone else, I cant.

I ball my fists as I strut downstairs to start training as usual. I look around the arena and my eyes drift to the weapons rack, filled with the training swords that Ashley would use.

I grab a gun from the gun case, that hasn't been fixed yet after I broke it, and started on the targets.

I loaded the gun and took aim.

I fired, bullet after bullet, each ranging about 10 centimeters away from the center.

I re-loaded and took my aim at another target; this one was a silhouette. I pointed the gun at the heart and took deep breaths, time froze, and the silhouette appeared to transform into a face I knew all too well.

Her face stared at me with pain and indecision. The arena transformed into buildings as Fire raged around us and screams sounded.

Her outfit was torn on the sleeves and some on the bottom of her shirt, blood stains were apparent on her clothing and her hair was loose, blowing in the wind as it messed it up even more.

Ash covered her pants as her eyes watered, but she didn't let them fall. She never did, she never allowed herself too.

"I'm sorry." She said.

Then she turned.

And she left me.

I pulled the trigger and the target fell; the arena came back into view as tears welled up in my eyes.

I dont want to blame her; I dont want to hurt her.

But it doesnt change the fact of how she hurt Me.

Ashleys POV

I look around the room in Ajaxs castle, Queen Gwendolyn showed me to the room I could stay in for the night as she didnt want to stress me out by sleeping in my biological parents home. And shes right, they might be my biological parents but they arent my mom and dad, not yet. i dont feel comfortable sleeping in a house filled with strangers, and on that line I barely slept last night. The majority of the night was just sitting in the bed staring out the window, looking at the sky.

The only constant thing that stayed the same from the Etherial kingdom was the sun, which I could see peeking up over the horizon.

It seems wherever I go, the sun is always there. Always up at the same time, always leaves at the same time. A strict schedule.

I picked up the blankets off the floor and made the bed, the bed was huge, and it shocked me how there was so much space, but only one single bed.

I reached in my backpack, which I was very grateful I brought. It was a miracle that everything was still in there after my encounter with that stupid river.

I reached in the pouch and brought out my blue hoodie, and some black leggings, I still wore my black shirt, which Im very grateful wasnt the white shirt I almost wore on this journey.

That would have been embarrassing after getting wet.

I walked out of the room and made my way downstairs to the main rooms, such as the kitchen, dining room, and lounging room.

The floor was dark and empty so I turned on the lights, which illuminated the spacious hallways. I walked around finding the kitchen, and knocked on the door.

I waited for a little bit, and I didnt hear anything, so I called out, "hello?" no answer.

I opened the door to see nobody in there. Did Queen Gwendolyn not have chefs?

"Why are you up at this hour?" someone behind me called.

I turned around to see Walela behind me, her and Agnar didnt want to leave me after getting me back, so they decided to stay in the room next to me, I mustve woken them up.

"Oh, Im so sorry if I made too much noise." I apologize.

"No, no, dont apologize. She looked at the kitchen door then to me, are you hungry?" she asked.

"A little, but theres nobody in there." I state. "Does Queen Gwendolyn not have chefs?"

"Honey, why would she need chefs? She just needs to cook food for her, and her son." She laughs.

I look at her, she looks so relaxed. "you're taking this surprisingly well." I point out.

"What do you mean?" she asks, smiling.

"When you first saw me yesterday you acted like you knew I was coming." I say.

"Maybe I did." She said easily.

"How?" I demand.

She answers, "Did Ajax tell you what role I play in this community?" I vaguely remember our conversation when Ajax was telling me of my biological parents. How my image was used to scare the world, a sorceresss daughter.

"you're the sorceress." I reply.

"yes, I am. I practice the arts of magic. To bond with the elements and the spirits, I have many talents."

"so what does this have to do with me? How did you know I was coming?"

"I've been seeing you for a while now. You know me, you just didnt recognize me." She says.

I think, what does she mean?

My eyes widen slightly, "is one of your talents interfering in ones dreams?" I narrow my eyes.

She laughs, "yes, and you have grown tremendously, I only made myself known this past few months but I have always been there for you, I controlled your dreams, I made them replay your happiest memories when you were sad, to remind you why you must keep up good spirits. But after all of that, I still feel like I failed as a mother. I am very sorry for everything that has happened to you." She said sincerely.

"What I went through helped me to be the person I am, without them, I wouldnt be the girl youre praising right now." I spoke honestly. I dont regret my life in Etheria, but I could build a life out here.

She smiles at me, "well, I think some pancakes are in order this morning, dont you think?"

"pancakes?" I ask, for breakfast we have granola cakes, basically just granola, in a cake shape. Sometimes I drizzle some yogurt on it, but I have never heard of pancakes.

"oh honey, you dont know what youve been missing. "She says as she pulls me in the kitchen to make some 'pancakes.'

A/N 1161 words